Yes I did
- I changed my profile picture
- I posted videos
- I commented with Ukraine gifs
Woo Hoo! Yay me! I’m such a good person, right?
Ok, not say that those aren’t good things.
Or that public consciousness isn’t important.
I also think it’s fabulous that social media is being
used by people to promote a positive message.
I also think it’s great that maybe people are
thinking twice about their #FirstWorldProblems.
But, honestly, after a few days of doing my part on
Facebook, and being informed by the news & all the
devastating YouTube videos — well … I kinda felt like
a pathetic, spoiled piece of shit.
What to do?
Let’s see…
I’m not rich or powerful
I don’t speak Russian or know anyone in Russia or Ukraine
I’m not in politics or connected to anyone in politics
I’m no genius computer hacker (seriously, I’m having trouble formatting this)
I’m on the other side of the world
What a helpless, shitty feeling!
Hey Alexa, how can I help?
Oh, yeah, I forgot. I don’t have Alexa. She seriously creeps me out!
Hey Siri, what …
Oh yeah, I don’t have a smartphone either.
Oh, yeah. That thing
that I’m typing on
RIGHT NOW!
The answer is out there!
Surely I can find something!
YES! There are some great ideas out there!
This one is a little beyond my capabilities,
but credit to Elon for stepping up.
Huge credit to the Deputy Prime Minister
of Ukraine for his creative tweet.
Not really a big fan of Twitter. I’m not
even on it. That shouldn’t be a shock to
anyone after seeing that picture of my phone.
But, hey, Bezos.
What are you up to these days?
Us non billionaires could do this …
Maybe some of us who are on the Twitter machine could start sending tweets to people like Bezos? Things like “Hey, aren’t you retired now? Bored? Maybe you could help the people of Ukraine.” or “Good morning, what have you done to help the people of Ukraine today?” or “Elon beat you to it in Ukraine. You’re not going to let him outdo you, are you?” Get creative! Use your imagination.
I haven’t wanted to be a hacker this much since watching Hardison (seriously, he made it look so cool!)
I’m mostly a point and click kind of computer user. However, if this is your thing — WOW, what an incredible time to be alive. Of course, that would be illegal, so I couldn’t possibly recommend it to anyone, but we can all enjoy watching it happen, right?
So how about the rest of us who aren’t billionaires
or computer geniuses?
The Lincoln Project made this ad in Russian for people to tweet out to Russian officials, oligarchs, government accounts, etc. Word has it that Putin has shut Twitter down in Russia (among numerous other sources for outside information). That doesn’t necessarily mean that no Russians can tweet. Especially maybe the ones who aren’t in Russia right now? Say, maybe Ukraine? Worth a shot.
The World Central Kitchen is doing great work!
You can donate to them — just click here
Or even volunteer here
Another creative way average people are getting information into Russia. Reviews! Sneaky, right. I fucking love this!
Someone was even kind enough to make a step by step video to do it.
And of course there are numerous charities out there
Unfortunately some of the bad actors in the hacker world have jumped on this opportunity as well, so it’s always best to do a little research before just handing out money, let alone your credit card info. Here are:
5 tips to avoid charity frauds and scams
Charity Watch has a long list of charities you can give to
just CLICK HERE
Give.org even has a convenient search option if you want to check on a charity
SEARCH HERE
Forbes also put out a list of things you can do to help
CLICK HERE FOR FORBES LIST
SERIOUSLY, HOW GREAT IS IT TO LIVE IN THIS AGE?
No. The world is far from perfect — BUT
We don’t have to just sit on the sidelines and wait and see
We can get worldwide news in real time
We CAN get involved
We can transfer money easily around the world
We can collectively make a difference!
Think about every heartwarming story you ever heard about some GoFundMe campaign that changed someone’s life with small donations from large groups of people.
Then of course there is this
”Heartwarming” isn’t exactly the word I would use in this instance, but I’m just waiting for him to open it up to the public for a GoFundMe GoFuckHim campaign. I’m in!
According to This Story, he seems to believe it will work and I really hope he is right!
For the record
Despite the Wanted poster circulating, he isn’t calling for his death, just his justified arrest
***
It was much more civilized than that.
***
***
And don’t discount the rest of us
You can also send messages to companies
who are still doing business with Russia and let them know how you feel.
Big businesses are famous for doing the right thing (ya, know, when they realize it’s the best thing for their image and their bottom line)
I haven’t been able to verify this yet, but so far I’ve heard:
Kentucky Fried Chicken: 100 locations
McDonald’s: 847 locations
Starbucks: 73 locations
Subways: 670 locations ….
…. Pepsi, Colgate, Coca-Cola, Kraft
Interesting that I couldn’t find much on this. Then again, the companies doing the right thing are getting all the good publicity. That alone should be incentive.
On a positive note, send messages to the companies
who did the right thing right away here’s the most recent list at the time of writing this
Most recent list of those companies here
This is just a minor list
I’m more than open to suggestions and ideas of what more I can do
and I will happily update this story with other ideas!
Sunday, Mar 6, 2022 · 6:26:23 PM +00:00 · LuvPure
Hey Vodka drinkers!
Even if the only thing you do in support is to change your vodka brand, at least know what brands to buy or avoid. Just because it has a Russian sounding name (or doesn’t) doesn’t mean JACK SHIT!
Pretty extensive list here
The owner of Stoli was exiled from Russia almost 20 years ago.
Svedka is from Sweden.
Smirnoff? Made in Illinois (please, please don’t pronounce the “s”. Even in your head as you read that. It drives all us Chicago born people nuts! I thank you for this small consideration.)
Even better — buy Ukrainian brands. Like NEMIROFF, ZIRKOVA, or any of the 5 brands listed in this story.
Personally, while I think it’s a great idea to not buy any MORE Russian vodka, I find it wasteful to throw away any you might already have. Why not toast to Ukraine while you drink it, and then donate the money you would have spent to replace it? That Russian company already has your money anyway, dumping it changes nothing for them and just leaves you with a smaller liquor cabinet. Just my opinion.
At the very least, be an informed consumer
and don’t just go with the knee jerk reaction.
Ignorant consumerism is after all one of the things
that gives Americans a bad name sometimes.
And toast to the brave people of Ukraine while you’re at it!
I particularly like “Budmo!” as it translates to “Let us be”
Which seems particularly appropriate right now.
Personally, I’ll skip the pickle, but
fortunately there are many, many options here.
Monday, Mar 7, 2022 · 7:10:55 AM +00:00 · LuvPure
I just found another way to communicate with people in Russia from this video:
And checked on the legitimacy and safety of that medium (Telegraph) here.
Although there are other opinions about Telegraph as well. A decision only you can make for yourself on whether or not to use them. More information here too.
Those are just 2 of many judgments on Telegraph. Plenty of others easily found in a search.